Red Dresses at Ayame's
by Agent of the Apothecary
Summary: -AU- The missing heiress to the city's main crime family, a mysterious Chinese woman in red, a rising rebel faction, a 'neutral' arms dealer, and blurring lines between allies and enemies: private eye Neji Hyuuga has never had a case like this before.
1. In which Neji tries to turn down a case

**Story**: Red Dresses at Ayame's

**Summary**: -AU- The missing heiress to a crime family, a mysterious Chinese woman, a rising rebel faction, and a 'neutral' arms dealer: private eye Neji Hyuuga has never had a case like this.

**Notes**: Inspired by Denzel Washington's absolutely amazing performance in _The Devil in a Blue Dress_, which is set in 1948 and made of cool.

Because, honestly, who doesn't see Tenten as a femme fatale? I mean, really?

* * *

CHAPTER ONE - _In which Neji tries to turn down a case, and fails_

"Hey there, Silver Eyes." She smiled very slowly, flashing white teeth between painted red lips. Her dress was red too, as well as her shoes. Keeping the possibility of a red knife close in his thoughts, he moved carefully around her.

"Hello," he said.

"You need to understand," she continued, one hand steady on the knife, the other pressing a short rope of pearls against the dip in her throat. "This isn't personal."

"For you it isn't," he said, and she lunged.

* * *

_Two days earlier_

"Oi, Hyuuga. Get your ass down here."

Head tilted back, cigarette burning air, Neji Hyuuga observed the ceiling. There was a brown water stain growing by the old molding in the corner. He wondered for a moment if he could harangue the landlord into fixing it himself, and then figured that the effort of bothering Sarutobi to do anything would never be worth the results he grudgingly produced.

"Hyuuga." Sasuke Uchiha slouched in the doorway of Neji's office, hands in the pockets of his suit pants. He'd lost his jacket and tie, his sleeves rolled up to the elbows. There was a yellowing bruise skimming his brow and down the side of his face. "Client," he said. "Girl."

Neji grunted, minutely lifting his head.

"She asked for you," continued Uchiha. "By name. Almost took Uzumaki's head off in the process."

"Show her up," said Neji. Uchiha disappeared from the door and Neji straightened in his chair, adjusting his tie and smoothing his hair back into an inconspicuous tail at the back of his neck. Even in 1949, people were suspicious of obvious signs of foreigners. The forties were not a good time to be Japanese in America.

He was stubbing out his cigarette and opening the window to dispel the musty smell when she appeared in the doorway. She was slight and somewhat short; red hair, light enough to almost be called pink, styled to wave and a knot, framed a delicate, pale face. Her eyes were big and green, and would have been too large if they hadn't been set off by her pale dress. She was clutching a felt hat with a swath of netting.

"Mr. Hyuuga?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, standing. "Neji Hyuuga. And you are?"

"Sakura Haruno," she said, striding across the room. "I need your help."

They shook hands. "I imagined," he replied, and gestured for her to sit.

"My friend is in trouble," she said. "But first – out of curiosity – you aren't related to _the_ Hyuugas, are you?"

"No," he said. It was a common question.

"Good," she said. "You see, Mr. Hyuuga, my friend was. And now she's disappeared."

"Not that strange," pointed out Neji, wishing he still had his cigarette. "Inasmuch as when it comes to that family."

"She's the heir," said Sakura, shifting in her seat and lifting her eyes to meet his. Pale green met pale grey. "Hinata always has at least twelve goons following her when we go out. There is no way that someone could have gotten to her – unless they were in the family."

Neji wasn't really the sort of man whose physical movements gave away what he was thinking. Had he been, he would have shifted in his seat or cleared his throat. Sakura's implications seemed perfectly tailored to securing that he would be soon getting an ounce of lead buried in his back.

"Are you saying," he asked with his typical bluntness, "that someone in the Hyuuga family purposely made the heir disappear?"

"Maybe," she hedged. In her lap, she smoothed the felt hat with her fingertips.

"Hn," said Neji.

"Yes," she finally said. His quietness got to them all eventually, an effective tactic with new clients and old informants. "I believe that someone in the Hyuuga family has made Hinata disappear." She leaned forward, her hat tumbling out of her lap and settling on the floor by his desk. "Hinata is the sweetest person in the word, Mr. Hyuuga. And there aren't a lot of sweet people around nowadays. She isn't cutthroat like the rest of them – she wouldn't last two weeks as the head of the family."

"Ah," said Neji. He was already ninety percent certain that the best course of action would be directing Sakura Haruno and her pretty eyes towards someone with half a brain who wouldn't mind – or wouldn't be smart enough to realize they were – being cannon fodder.

"Please," she said, "you need to help me. Hinata is like a child sometimes. So naïve, so trusting. Her family is full of heartless bastards and no one gave a damn about her. We were trying to get her out."

Neji's ears prickled. "We?" he asked.

"To meet your price," said Sakura stiffly, back straightening, "I had to bring a few friends in. All of us are interested in Hinata's wellbeing."

Yes, best case scenario would be foisting her off. Neji had his own code of honor, but Neji also had self-preservation instincts and first-hand knowledge of the inner workings of the Hyuuga family. The mob was messy, annoyingly persistent, and always in bed with the best weapons dealers in the city.

"I know someone—" he began, but Sakura cut him off immediately.

"Mr. Hyuuga. I can pay you a lot. _We _can pay you a lot. More than your usual fee – because God knows working with the Hyuugas, you'll need it." She was eyeing him rather desperately by then, and it was pure chance that had his boss appearing in the doorway.

_Take it_, Sarutobi mouthed extravagantly. _Fucking take it, Hyuuga_.

"Fine," sighed Neji. "You've got yourself a deal, Miss Haruno."

"Wonderful," she beamed. "Where do I sign?"

* * *

His blue pen capped and a pretty contract burning a hole in his drawer, Neji grabbed Lee and set off. Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki, bickering like three-year-olds, escorted Sakura back to the apartment she shared occasionally with the Hyuuga heiress – that is, when Hinata wasn't rubbing elbows with the mayors, lawyers, and judges that the Hyuugas had in their back pocket.

"What's the news?" asked Lee, snapping his suspenders with his thumbs. The nervous tick was a cover for his hand staying close to the pistol under his dark green jacket.

"Hyuuga heiress is missing," said Neji. "Friends came for help."

Lee whistled through his front teeth. "That's a suicide job if I ever heard one. You angling for your own plot at the bottom of the river, Neji?"

His partner smiled humorlessly.

"Oh," said Lee, instantly understanding. "Boss appeared in your doorway, and, ah 'convinced' you to take it on?"

Neji grunted in agreement. All of the private investigators at Konoha Investigations had, at one point, signed onto cases where their instincts had screamed to run the other way and Sarutobi had screamed to dive headfirst into them. Most of the time, the cases didn't turn out half as dangerous as originally presumed.

Most of the time, anyway.

"Great," sighed Lee. "Well, I guess you and I are going to get to know those fish pretty well, eh?" His pessimism was uncharacteristic; normally it was Neji who gloomily projected bad ends to their cases. They were, however, waltzing with the Hyuugas. Lee's cracks about taking an underwater walk with some cement feet were, unfortunately, not jokes.

Neji chose not to comment – unsurprisingly – and they turned the final corner before the park. Ahead of them stretched the arch of trees lining the gravel walk that bisected City Park. Hiding behind the scattering of pines and maples were old money homes, built like temples in bright colors a hundred years before. Most were mausoleums now, but even their stalwart presence didn't keep people out of the park.

The pair didn't stand out from the strolling lunch types, and they avoided young mothers and nannies that chased each other's children across the grass. Eventually the wandering line of trees dumped them into the chess square, and there, meandering between three of the nine tables, was their contact, wearing his usual palate of brown and grey. His hair was spiky from prolonged lack of a hat.

"Tch," he said upon sighting them. "Fucking troublesome."

"Your move," said the first of the three chess contenders, hunched and swathed in a musty sweater. He tugged at the woolen hat pulled low over his eyes. Shikamaru Nara, the contact, turned from his unwelcome guests and said, "Knight to E4."

"Fucker," grunted the man.

"Check," added Shikamaru absently a moment later.

"Nara," spoke up the third challenger, and Shikamaru didn't bother looking at the board before offering his move. The second player appeared terrified and cowed, and he didn't even try to speak before Neji and Lee cornered Shikamaru at one of the empty tables.

"What now?" sighed Shikamaru, slumping against the table.

"Hyuuga heiress," said Neji, sliding his hands into his pockets. His stance was casual, but the posture was impeccable.

"Not even bothering," replied Shikamaru, gazing between their shoulders at the trees. "What's the point? The chief's in their pocket and the straight ones are too scared to do anything. Idiot just off the street tried to go in and question the family and got slammed. Chief took his badge."

"Do you have anything coming from outside the precinct?" pressed Lee. Flick, flick went his thumbs.

Shikamaru sighed again. His shoulders bowed. "Wherever she went, thirteen Hyuuga lumps went to hell behind her. Her sister's supposed to be terrified and locked up in the compound – not that anyone believes it, the sister's supposed to be a battleaxe. Friends are getting hysterical, though. Came downtown and tried to stir up trouble. Got stonewalled for their trouble, of course. Tch."

"Do you know much about these friends?" asked Neji.

"Your move!" interrupted the first man, having outmaneuvered Shikamaru's knight.

"Bishop to king," said Shikamaru. "Checkmate."

The crumpled old man swore.

"Friends?" reminded Lee.

"Sakura Haruno, bombshell with pink hair. Trained professionally as a nurse, but took an indefinite leave of absence from the Daniel Crowne Geriatric Home to find her missing friend. Ino Yamanaka, blonde, runs the family flower shop over on Seventh. Both are single. Went to school with the Hyuuga heir – you know, the fancy Academy on Sixteenth."

Shikamaru's finish was awkward and he was twitching minutely.

"And?" asked Neji tonelessly.

"I didn't get a name," said the brunet police inspector eventually. "Looked Chinese, dressed entirely in red. Didn't speak, barely blinked. Would've thought she was a goon, 'cept she was tiny, tinier than even Haruno, who I assume hired you."

"Hmm," said Lee. "That it?"

"For now," said Shikamaru. "You'll be back, of course."

"Of course," agreed Lee.

Turning to his two remaining games, Shikamaru said, "Here's hoping I won't be seeing you at the morgue."

* * *

Neji and Lee spent the rest of the afternoon doing paperwork they couldn't put off any longer, and once the night was dark enough that the stars shone outside of the false glow of the streetlights, they pulled down their ties and put on their hats and headed to Ayame's.

Ayame herself was manning the bar, and she had the girls out with cigarettes by the tables. There was a husky singer on the stage making love to a microphone, and a few more women in slinky dresses pressed to the richer guests.

"Want a light?" purred a girl whose eyes rivaled Nosferatu's. Her talons were curled around a cigarette, and she puffed smoke to the right of Neji's face, smirking at him.

"He's fine," said Lee. "Thanks."

"All right," she shrugged, the straps of her dress sliding across her shoulders. "I'm Cecily, by the way. Just in case." She winked a line of thick black lashes and slunk off.

Lee let out a quiet whistle, and Neji had to forcibly steer him towards the bar. Ayame, juggling expensive bottles of rum and a bucket of ice, noticed them but didn't say anything. When she had finished serving a prominent judge groping a stick in stilettos who probably wasn't over fifteen, she turned to them and smiled. "My two favorite private dicks," she said, her voice an octave lower than the singer onstage. "Can I help you boys to something wet?"

"Bourbon," said Lee, leaning against the bar. "Neji'll have a gin and tonic."

"Fancy schmancy, boys," she said, and half a second later the drinks were on the bar, tumblers cut heavy on the bottom. With clientele like hers, Ayame could afford to splurge on the glassware. "Enjoy," she said. "And make sure you come back later for refills." She winked. The implicit message – _I'll talk to you later_ – hung in the air.

"Thanks," said Lee, toasting her with his glass, and she turned to stun a group of university boys with her smile and cleavage.

"What should we do?" asked Lee, and Neji took a small sip of his gin and tonic before answering. He'd scanned the room twice by then, and he already knew that Hiashi Hyuuga's normal box above the floor was empty. With the way business had been going lately for the Hyuugas, the balcony was probably dusty from disuse. The other boxes, padded with rice paper walls and smoky gas lanterns to give a cheap imitation of a Japanese geisha house, were all filled and leaking drunk men. Ayame must have been scared of something to purposely keep the Hyuuga box empty.

Neji also knew that an irritable blonde in a backless blue dress was harassing Shikamaru Nara and his partner Chouji Akimichi in the corner. "Ino Yamanaka, I'd guess," he said, gesturing with his glass.

"You never guess," pointed out Lee, casually turning his head. "And I'd have to agree with you. She look pretty cozy with Nara to you?"

"Yes," said Neji absently. "We should join them."

"I will," said Lee. "Since I assume you want to talk to the Chinese woman who just came in." Neji's head swiveled towards the door, and locked his eyes on the small, slim figure. His eyes started at the bottom – red dress, embroidered with gold dragons – and moved up. The last thing he noticed was her hair, pinned up in twin buns with tinkling pins, and brown eyes that were giving him an equally assessing glance.

"Split up," he agreed.

* * *

_I've always been a huge fan of noir-esque mysteries, and while I realize that the prose isn't quite . . . jilted enough to manage a proper narration, I'm also trying to keep in mind that this is set during the very end of the noir-mystery period. Which is just a fancy way of saying I tried and failed, so I set it later in the 40's._

_But I'd love feedback - anything at all is appreciated!_


	2. In which Neji meets the woman in red

**Notes**: Thank you all for the encouraging reviews! And thus, chapter two, earlier than I expected . . .

* * *

CHAPTER TWO - _In which Neji meets the woman in red_

They split up.

Lee disappeared into the crowd, and Neji followed a second later, leaving his sweating tumbler on the bar. The Chinese woman blended in a little too well for someone who should have stood out in a getup like that, and Neji was instantly on his guard. In the act of smoothing down his jacket he checked his revolver and the extra box of rounds in his pocket.

Three steps from the door he lost her.

He swore, but not aloud, and turned around as casually as he could manage. She was right behind him, eyes laughing. "Got a light?" she asked, but she didn't have a cigarette.

"Sure," he said, and didn't take out a match.

"See something you like?" she asked, tilting her hip to the side and grinning up at him. From Shikamaru's lackluster description, he hadn't expected someone flirty or talkative. That made him wary.

"Maybe," he replied, which was probably considered an insult by more than one of the women who graced Ayame's with their presence.

"I'll keep that in mind," she said, apparently not insulted. "So, cowboy, you gonna shoot first and ask questions later, or drag me out of here with minimal fuss and start the interrogation?" She reached out and brushed her hand down his tie, except halfway down she flicked her finger against the lapel of his jacket, directly parallel to where the safety of his gun sat against his ribs.

"Ayame is a friend," he said.

"Outside it is," she replied, and wound her arm through his. "Lead the way."

Not that concerned about what a group of half-drunk businessmen were saying about them quite loudly, Neji led the mysterious Chinese woman to the elaborate front doors. He gestured her through first, and she laughed as she walked ahead of him. Her dress fell without a ripple from the shoulders, but he was fairly certain that she had a knife strapped to her thigh. She didn't have enough flair at her hips to account for the exaggerated swing in her walk.

"So," she began when they spilled into the alley around the corner, "what are you looking for?"

"Hinata Hyuuga," he said, and took out a cigarette. He purposely tilted his head downwards so, after the initial flair of light from the match, his face was shadowed.

"Wrong answer," she said, still smiling easily, and took a step back. "Especially for someone with pretty eyes like yourself. You a Hyuuga?"

"In name," said Neji. "No relation."

"Sure," she agreed. "And I'm just a girl out for a midnight stroll with an awfully attractive gentleman who isn't carrying enough lead to love me dead."

Neji, who was not a man who enjoyed being led around by the nose, was getting a little irritated. "So what are you, then?"

She put a finger to her lips and pretended to consider. "I _am_ a girl out on a stroll with a gentleman, but I don't happen to be defenseless. Nor do I intend to give you any answers, Mr. Hyuuga. You can tell Tsunade that subtlety will get her nowhere."

"I don't know Tsunade," said Neji, which was true, to a point. He knew _of_ Tsunade, but then again who didn't?

"If you keep on lying to me, no-relation-Hyuuga, I might just get frustrated."

"I don't know Tsunade," he repeated. "I'm a private investigator. Your friend Sakura Haruno hired me to find Hinata Hyuuga. I'm looking."

"Hmm." She took a few steps back, further into the alley, and it was hard to tell whether she was doing it to get the tactical advantage in a knife fight or if she was planning to run for it. Neji hazarded a glance at her shoes. They were too delicate for much rushing. "Sakura told me she was hiring Sasuke Uchiha."

"I work with Uchiha," said Neji. "But Haruno asked for me by name."

"I hope you understand that this is all very sudden," said the woman. "I'll talk to Sakura and then I'll find you, Mr. Hyuuga. Are you in the book?" The question was a little mocking.

"I'm unlisted."

"Good to know," she said, and melted into the alley. For someone in three inch heels and a constraining dress, she disappeared almost in the blink of an eye. The shadows were deep by Ayame's, but not that deep.

Fighting the urge to rub his eyes, Neji turned and dropped his cigarette. He tapped it with his toe and then returned inside to reschedule the meeting with Ayame, pick up Lee, and head out. By the double doors he swore, realizing that he had never found out her name.

* * *

"Yamanaka didn't know anything new," said Lee as they peeled off the curb. The company car alternated purring and spluttering, but it managed the intersection with a semblance of grace. "Spent the entire time ranting at Shikamaru and Chouji, then made the two of them take her home. What about the Chinese girl?"

Neji related their conversation almost word-for-word, including her mysterious departure. "I want to talk to Haruno," he said.

"That why we're bailing on Ayame?" asked Lee, peeking at Neji from under the brim of his hat.

"The sooner we get there," said Neji, turning rapidly onto Seventh, "the more chance we have of catching Haruno, the Chinese, and Yamanaka together."

Lee's silence was obvious agreement, and the rest of the ride passed in the same way. The brownstone they pulled up in front of was nice, probably too much for a nurse and store manager to afford, and it told Neji and Lee a little more about the way the pendulum swung in terms of rent and utilities.

"Think Hyuuga owns it?" asked Lee as they climbed the front steps.

"I know he owns the whole block," said Neji. "The question is how much he's charging them for it." They rang the bell and were answered almost immediately by a querulous housekeeper who seemed determined to turn the away.

Uchiha materialized at her shoulder.

"Bertha," he said, and she gave her last grumble and stepped aside. The hall Neji and Lee stepped into was nice, very classy. The stairs were marble and maple, the paint on the walls a deep red. There was an honest-to-God Persian under their feet, and something that eerily resembled an original Ming on a three-legged table in a corner.

"What?" asked the Uchiha, half-scowling.

"Who's here?" asked Neji, pulling off his hat.

"Haruno, Yamanaka, Nara, Naruto."

"Shikamaru?" asked Lee, surprised.

"Came with Yamanaka," replied Uchiha. "We kept him around."

Neji nodded, and he and Lee politely removed their hats. He noticed that Uchiha's was on the rack under the stairs, next to a red silk scarf and three or four felt hats with satin flowers. Lee's fingers were twitching under his suspenders, and Neji kept his eyes open for signs of the mysterious Chinese woman.

In the parlor, Sakura and Yamanaka were glaring across the room at Naruto Uzumaki, who had taken up what seemed to be permanent residence on their lounge chair. Shikamaru was sprawled on the piano bench, chain-smoking and looking irritable, as per usual. The rest of the room was decorated in shades of violet and lavender, its furnishings just as impeccable as the entrance hall.

"More people?" growled Ino, still in the backless blue dress they'd seen her wearing at Ayame's. "This is not a goddamn halfway house, Shikamaru. I don't care how many private dick friends you have."

"They're not my friends," muttered Shikamaru, and he shuddered.

"Of course they're not," replied Ino, voice rich with sarcasm. "They just decided to drop in because we're such fun."

"Hello, Mr. Hyuuga," said Sakura, rising to her feet. She was still wearing the pale green dress that skimmed her calves, and she rose to shake his hand and Lee's. "Mr. Lee, correct?"

"Nice to meet you," said Lee, and he grasped her hand firmly.

"It would be a pleasure under other circumstances," said Sakura, and she brushed a hand across her forehead, pushing back a few stray hairs. "Would you like something to drink, perhaps? I know it's a little late . . ."

With Ino trying to glare a hole through his sternum, Neji wasn't that interested in liquor. "I'm fine," he said. Lee echoed the sentiment, and they stayed standing as Haruno melted back into the sofa she shared with her friend.

"We just have a few questions," began Lee, but he was interrupted.

"Why is it," asked Ino, looking from Naruto to the standing pair, "that we spend our entire damn afternoon entertaining Bela Lugosi and Charlie Chaplain here but they don't ask us anything, and you show up at eleven at night and suddenly want to know the whole story?"

"Oi!" began Naruto, looking annoyed, "who the hell are you calling Charlie Chaplain, you—"

"We're the investigators directly involved," explained Lee, talking over Naruto, with his face carefully formed to a mask of sympathetic understanding. "Naruto and Sasuke were doing us a favor, making sure you stayed safe while we looked around for details."

"_Us_ safe?" demanded Ino. "What about _Hinata_?"

"If you disappear," said Neji, "that would be convenient. With you gone, there's no one to pursue a case."

Ino turned green.

As she turned this over in her mind, Naruto and Sasuke quietly quit the house. Leaving Lee to deal with a momentarily silenced Ino, Neji followed them into the front hall. "Well?" he asked.

"Nothing," said Sasuke.

"They talked a lot but didn't say anything," added Naruto.

"Sound familiar?" muttered Sasuke under his breath. With a loudly protesting Naruto following behind him, Sasuke left the house. Neji returned to the parlor.

When it became obvious that Shikamaru wasn't following them, Neji gave him the entirety of his cold stare. Within a few quick drags, Shikamaru stubbed out his cigarette and shuffled after the departed PIs.

"What questions do you have for us?" asked Sakura, gesturing that they should take two of the newly opened seats.

"How long have you known Hinata Hyuuga?" asked Lee, settling into the lounge chair. Neji leaned against the doorway.

"Ages," replied Sakura. "We all went to school together. We were in the same room for years. After school, it made sense for us to pool our resources. We were used to living together, and we thought it would be best."

"Best?"

"To let Hinata breathe outside of the compound every once and a while."

"Ah. So Miss Hyuuga didn't like living in the compound?"

"She felt stifled. Not that Hinata would say anything, of course. She's always been so worried about Hanabi, not being able to get out and go to school like Hinata did. She spent a lot of time with Hanabi."

"That would be Hanabi Hyuuga, her younger sister?"

"Yes. By a few years."

"Do you know who was after Miss Hyuuga, in terms of succession of the Hyuuga family?"

"You mean if Hinata got nailed, who was next in line?" interrupted Ino, grimacing. "Hanabi. It's pretty obvious that life would go a lot smoother for the Hyuugas if Hinata met an accident and Hanabi became heir. She's a ruthless little brat."

"She loved Hinata," corrected Sakura, looking tired. "But Hanabi also wants to please Hiashi. They both do. Grief certainly wouldn't keep her from taking the head of the family – and Hinata's suspected kidnapping probably wouldn't either."

"Ah," said Lee.

Neji noticed that they flickered between past and present tenses when discussing the Hyuuga heiress, and wondered what exactly that meant. He felt sure that they weren't involved in the kidnapping itself, but that didn't mean that they weren't hiding information.

"I met a Chinese woman earlier today," said Neji, keeping a careful eye on both of their reactions. "She mentioned that she thought you were hiring Sasuke Uchiha to head the case."

Both girls froze in their seats, but came to quickly. Sakura was the first to thaw and attempt a smile.

"Oh," she trilled nervously. "She's a, ah, friend. Concerned about how this is going, you know. We trust her."

"Really," said Neji. "What's her name?"

"Rui Xi," said Sakura after a pause. "She and I went to school together before I transferred to the Academy. She's a singer."

Neji didn't trust this information any more than he now trusted either of the two doe-eyed women he and Lee were currently questioning. "And how does Uchiha figure into this?"

Ino looked a bit incredulous. "You mean you don't _know_?" she said, and then laughed. "God, that's funny." This time, it was Haruno who turned green. "Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura are _engaged_. They have been for ages."

Neji hid his shock, but Lee wasn't practiced enough to do so properly. "They're what?" he asked, fingers stilling where they had tapped against his suspenders.

"Engaged," repeated Ino.

"Explain," said Neji.

"Explain what?" replied Sakura, looked both peeved and embarrassed. "Sasuke and I are engaged, and I purposely hired you because you didn't know anything. Knowing can muddle things up sometimes, and even Sasuke, who is supposedly objective, has known Hinata through me for years. Do you have a problem with my marrying one of your colleagues?"

_No_, thought Neji. _This just complicates things. _He and Lee met eyes and found themselves in accord. Sakura had just lied about her Chinese friend – and now Sasuke couldn't be trusted anymore. Because of him, neither could Naruto, who had the tendency to be a blockheaded idiot when it came to friendship. Uchiha's personal life had just lost them two extra sets of eyes, ears, and brains.

"That's all of our questions for now," said Lee, standing. "Thanks for being patient."

"Sure," said Sakura, and she stood to shake their hands again. "You aren't – that is, you are still working the case, aren't you?" She looked unsure, for once.

"Yes," said Neji after letting her sweat for a moment. "We'll keep you updated."

"Good," she said. "Good."

* * *

"Rui Xi?" said Lee when Bertha slammed the door shut after them.

"Unlikely," replied Neji. "While she has the tone for singing, most club voices don't have a holster of throwing knives under their dresses."

"Agreed," said Lee, frowning at his shoes. "Damn. I hate it when you can't immediately exclude the client."

"We need to find out more about this 'Rui Xi' before we automatically add Haruno and Yamanaka to the suspect list."

"And talk to Hanabi Hyuuga. Do you think we can actually get into the compound, or will we have to ambush her outside of her favorite boutique?"

"We can ask Ayame when we see her tomorrow." Neji adjusted his hat on his head and looked up and down the street before venturing out of the brownstone's protective arch.

Lee skipped down the steps and then turned to look up at his partner. "We can't trust Shikamaru on this one, either, can we?"

Neji gave an inaudible sigh. "Considering his relationship with Yamanaka and how he lied about Haruno being single, no."

"Damn," said Lee again, aiming a kick at the side of the car. "We're shedding allies like water."

"We'll talk to Ayame in the morning," said Neji in lieu of reply. Anything he could've said would have been discouraging.

* * *

_Cue the 'BUM BUM BUUUMMM!' I might as well have called this Chapter Two - In which the plot thickens._

_Again, thanks for the reviews - thoughts? Any suspicions on what's happening? Obviously I've already got it down, but I'm curious about what you think . . ._


	3. In which Neji connects some dots

**Notes**: The love! It gives me the warm and fuzzies, guys . . .

* * *

CHAPTER THREE - _In which Neji connects some dots, and finds some more  
_

That night, Neji sat on the couch in the middle of his sparse apartment and listened to the wireless. The president was making a speech, but it wasn't the sort of thing Neji enjoyed hearing. He got enough bullshit from clients every day from nine to five, and even more when he dropped in on Ayame's. He turned the knob until it fuzzily relayed some trumpeting jazz, and settled back into the hard cushions of his couch.

Nursing a glass of amber Scotch and a plate of unidentifiable food, Neji let his mind wander on the case. Now that he knew Uchiha was involved personally, he forced himself to remember every interaction – admittedly not much – since Sakura Haruno and her big green eyes stepped into his office. The conversation with Shikamaru in the park got the same treatment.

It disturbed him that both men pretended not to know the women.

It also disturbed him how easily Sakura – who, up until she revealed her engagement, he had seen as the rare sort of client who was at least honest when she signed the contract – had lied about her friend Rui Xi.

He saw in his mind the shadow of muscles in her arms, the bend of her shoulders when she lounged in the alley outside of Ayame's, and how quickly she had disappeared.

He heard her voice. _You can tell Tsunade that subtlety will get her nowhere._

Tsunade – the one person in the city that you could count on being in the know. She was probably the only one who knew the truth about Hinata Hyuuga, and there was no way to get information like that out of a woman like Tsunade. She didn't play both sides inasmuch as she didn't play sides at all. Utterly fair and utterly ruthless, she was, generally speaking, the last woman Neji ever wanted involved in one of his cases.

If Ayame turned out to be useless, or at least not as helpful as hoped, Neji was going to have to burn a few bridges and call in a few favors to get a meeting with Tsunade. He wasn't looking forward to the practice.

Tsunade. The Hyuugas. 'Rui Xi'. Dangerous people, and worse, dangerous people who were either above or below the law. Untouchable in the worst way.

With that in mind, he took two bites of the indeterminate food on his coffee table, and a longer drag on the Scotch. The jazz rattling in his skull, Neji let himself slip into sleep. Even then, his hand stayed within immediate grasp of his gun.

* * *

The light streaming through bare, curtain-less windows woke Neji the next morning. He ran a tired hand through his hair, wincing as he caught snarls, and rose to turn off the wireless. Stretching muscles that were still aching from his last case, Neji took a detour through the kitchen to drop his plate and glass, and then dumped his tired body into the shower.

Twenty minutes later, he was clean and presentable. He took ten minutes to scan the newspaper – the Hyuuga heiress's continued disappearance was, unfortunately, buried on the tenth page somewhere between an ad for shaving cream and a story on the mating patterns of the City Park Zoo's ostriches, which meant his journalism contacts would be next to useless – and then burnt his tongue on a quick cup of coffee and went to pick up Lee.

His partner was neither bright-eyed nor bushy-tailed when Neji pulled up to his apartment, which was a good thing because Neji himself was having a bad morning. By the time they made it to Ayame's, it was ten o'clock and she was just finishing up her business.

The burly man at the door waved them through with minimal fuss, and they wound their way through empty tables and a bare dance floor to reach Ayame's office, all the way in the back. Cecily the cigarette girl was lounging on a staircase that emptied into the floor, and she gave them a blank look as they passed. Ayame was screaming something unintelligible into the telephone when they politely knocked, and she waved them in.

"Yes," she finally said. "Yes, I understand. Of course. Yes, _yes_. I am not an _imbecile_." She slammed the receiver down and gave Neji and Lee a tight smile as they sat.

"What can I do for you boys?" she asked, passing a hand over her eyes. In the morning light, she was very obviously her age, even in a sharply cut suit that was a hard and fast change from her normal nighttime attire.

"Entertaining important guests?" asked Lee, gesturing to her clothes.

"Only the best for you two," she replied, grinning. "Speaking of which – you need something?"

"Information," said Neji, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "What do you know about Hinata Hyuuga's disappearance?"

Ayame sighed. "I was afraid that was it." She paused, stood, and closed the door to her office firmly. "What do you know," she finally said, pacing in the confines of her office, "about the Akatsuki?"

Lee and Neji exchanged glances.

"Well," said Lee, looking startled. "That they're a new group, rising hard and fast, and threatening the Hyuuga family for control over the city."

"Dangerous," added Neji quietly. "Borderline insane, or so I've heard from some sources."

"Common folk are divided between being glad that the Hyuugas are facing some competition and fearing what would happen if they city fell under the power of Akatsuki," finished Lee.

"Do you know who the leader of Akatsuki is?" asked Ayame, still not meeting their eyes.

"No."

"Itachi Uchiha."

Stuck in his seat, Neji tried to remember where he'd heard the name before. As if reading his thoughts – which, admittedly, Ayame the barkeep was very good at doing – she continued, "Along with your fellow PI, Sasuke, he's the only survivor of the fire that decimated the entire Uchiha family. There's talk that Itachi set it himself, but of course the police never get involved with that sort of thing. They ruled it accidental, and Itachi disappeared."

Neji's brain tried to fit together the pieces. Itachi Uchiha, suspected to have killed Sasuke's only family . . . Sasuke himself, sending his girlfriend to investigate the disappearance of the heir to the family that stood between Akatsuki and control of the city . . . Tsunade's integral part in every underground war . . . and Rui Xi, with her strange hair and red clothes, believing that Tsunade had sent him to convince her of something. But what, exactly?

Neji was missing some very important information. And, unfortunately, he knew that there was only one way to get it.

For the time being, he let Ayame trail off.

As Lee sat silent and muddled next to him, Neji spoke. "If I want to see Tsunade," he said, forcing Ayame to meet his eyes, "how would I go about doing that?"

Lee looked shocked, but Ayame seemed simply resigned.

"You know I can't do that," she said tiredly.

"Who can?" he asked.

She sighed, and stopped pacing to slump against the corner of her desk. "Kakashi, maybe. Genma, definitely, although finding him is almost not worth the trouble." She gave a half-grimace, half-smile, and told them, "Be careful, boys. Messing with Tsunade is all fun and games until you step on a landmine."

"We will," promised Lee. Neji didn't bother lying.

* * *

"Why Tsunade?" asked Lee when they had left the daytime husk of Ayame's and started walking towards the car.

"She's the only one who can connect the dots," said Neji, "because she's the only one who knows where they all are."

"She's not going to tell us," sighed Lee.

"We have to ask the right questions."

Lee looked frustrated. "I hate to point this out, but I don't know what the right questions _are_ at this point. I've got puzzle pieces and not a single one of them connect together."

"The key is Akatsuki," mused Neji aloud. "Why would they take Hinata Hyuuga?"

"Destroy morale?" suggested Lee.

"No," replied Neji. "The Hyuugas are better off without their weak heir. It makes more sense for the Hyuugas to take Hinata out themselves—"

"—but then Ayame wouldn't have dropped us that gem about Itachi Uchiha," finished Lee.

"We should see Hanabi Hyuuga before finding Genma."

Neji was withdrawing the car keys from his pocket when he saw the face behind him reflected the car window. He barely had time to duck before the crowbar smashed into the window of the Ford, and he danced away, trying to avoid the fast, whistling swings.

"What the," began Lee, and then a knife was hurtling towards his ribs and he couldn't finish. Neji barely avoided the sixth swing, and the seventh caught him mid-lunge, replacing the air in of his lungs with the sharp end of his ribs. Shoving the pain aside, Neji tore the pocketknife out of his jacket and half-blindly impaled his attacker.

A few feet away, Lee was using his impressive speed to avoid the weaving knife stabbing at his torso. Both of their dance partners wore long black trench coats dotted with red clouds – _Akatsuki, then_, Neji thought – and both were astonishingly tall.

A kick to his injured side booted Neji halfway up the side of the damaged company car, his head skidding along the metal frame, and a healthy sprinkling of red clouds started dancing along the edge of his vision.

"Greetings, fuckhead," said his attacker. "Stay the hell out of our business or I'll fucking decapitate you." With an almost affectionate departing kick, the blond stalked off.

Not able to spare a moment's notice for his partner, Lee grabbed the high collar of the Akatsuki coat and pulled, ripping it away. For a moment he saw a man, his milky-brown skin lined with dark, twisting scars, and then a fist hit him point-blank on the side of the head and he slumped on the pavement next to his partner.

After ten minutes' effort and vociferous swearing, they had hauled themselves into the remnants of the car and poured brandy from the flask in the glove compartment onto the open cuts. Lee winced occasionally, but Neji took the pain stoically, mentally noting that he would have to see a doctor about his ribs eventually.

"Nice welcome," said Lee, voice tight with pain as he dabbed at the broken skin at his temple. "I almost prefer the Hyuugas to these guys – at least they have the decency to shoot you straight off the bat. This was almost sadistic."

"Hn," said Neji.

* * *

With Lee sucking ice back at the apartment he'd just left, Neji and his scarred car made for the better side of the city. Well aware that he looked like he had just gotten hot and heavy with a cement sidewalk – and, in a way, he had – he stopped just shy of the weapons store and waited.

It was close to noon by then, and he didn't have to wait long.

The car was new, black, and had dangerous curves. Stepping out of it, in heels and a dark blue dress that wrapped around a narrow waist, was Hanabi Hyuuga, de facto heir to the Hyuuga family and fifteen years old. She slid a pair of aviator sunglasses over her nose and flicked her hand. Two broad lumps with short hair and thick chests moved back and allowed her to go first.

Neji stepped out of the car into their path.

"Hello, Hanabi," he said, pulling at his tie. He'd left his hat behind in the car.

"Cousin," she replied, smirking. "Good to see you."

"Not really," he said, holding himself a little awkwardly to account for a set of ribs that were sprained at best and probably broken.

Her smile vanished. "Is this about Hinata?" When he nodded, she angrily stalked past her favorite weapons store to the striped overhang of an all-day coffee dive. At his blank look, she pulled open the door. "Let's talk."

"All right," he said.

The dive, with its vinyl booths and a top-heavy waitress in a pink uniform, looked utterly out of place cushioning the presence of Hanabi, who breathed class from the tips of her pumps to the top of her black-haired head. The fluorescent lighting made her hair almost blue, and it probably performed the same trick on Neji.

An idiot at the counter grunted something about damn Japs, and was seconds later staring into the emotionless face of the second goon. He muttered an apology, which Hanabi waved away, and then they were sitting, each nursing a bad cup of sludge. The goons settled a few booths away, within shooting distance but incapable of eavesdropping.

"Well?" said Hanabi. "What do you want to know, cousin?"

"What can you tell me?" asked Neji, holding onto the cup more for warmth than actual enjoyment.

Hanabi sighed and dipped her finger into her cup. She licked the sheen of coffee off, obviously considering what to give him. "Who hired you?" she finally asked.

"Sakura Haruno."

"Hinata's pink-haired nurse friend?" Hanabi grimaced. "Annoyingly persistent, isn't she? Well, I'm not surprised. They don't know enough to stay out of family affairs." She gave him a frank look. "Mind you, ten minutes ago I would have said _you_ knew better."

"Hn," said Neji noncommittally.

"It's been five years," continued Hanabi. "I should have figured it would take precious Hinata's disappearance for you to start concerning yourself with the family again."

"I'm not concerning myself with the family. It's a case, and once it's over we'll be back to no communication."

"Tsk tsk," said Hanabi, waving her index finger back and forth. "You were disowned, not murdered. In any case, it was self-exile. You know that my father would welcome you back happily if you chose to return. Well, I suppose as happily as Father ever does anything."

Neji grunted rather than answering. Going back to the family would get him a happy knife between his already broken ribs. The family didn't much like people that left. Hinata was the only reason Neji had survived his defection – so maybe he owed it to his little quiet cousin to find out what happened to her.

"Who have you talked to?" asked Hanabi. It was spoken casually, but Neji knew better than to actually answer that.

"Tell me what happened."

Hanabi shrugged. She clicked her blue fingernails against the cheap porcelain mug. "The night before the truce meeting with Akatsuki at Ayame's, Hinata vanished from her room at the compound. There were thirteen guards, as per usual, three at the door, two in the parlor, four in the two surrounding chambers, and four patrolling the grounds outside her window." Hanabi minutely shuddered. "They were all dead when I went to Hinata's room at six. Eleven shot or stabbed, the two in the parlor outside her bedroom were garroted. There wasn't sign of a struggle – but with Hinata, that wasn't surprising."

"Truce meeting?"

"Father persists in acting like a gentleman. He called a truce meeting at Ayame's – the only neutral spot in town – to outline the rules of the game. Once Hinata went missing, the truce was off. Neither side has acted on anything yet, but Hinata's only been gone for two days. There's going to be a mess soon, cousin." Hanabi sipped her coffee and grimaced.

"Who did it, Hanabi?" Neji asked.

She sighed. "Akatsuki. It was too clean to be anyone else."

Neji noted who it was that she wasn't mentioning. "Could it have been someone in the family?" he asked.

"You mean because I become the heir if Hinata stays missing?" Hanabi's lips thinned. "Don't bother being subtle, Neji. No. I did not make Hinata disappear."

"It's not in Akatsuki's interests for Hinata to vanish," he pointed out.

"Who told you that?" scoffed Hinata. "Ayame? She doesn't know anything." Hanabi leaned forward, pushing her tasteless muck aside. "Akatsuki benefits from _anything_ that throws the Hyuugas into turmoil. Regardless of whether or not Father found her suitable, he was still grooming Hinata to lead the family. She knows things now, more than she did five years ago when you left." Her upper lip curled. "Father is getting old, and this is not a safe profession. If Father died tomorrow, Hinata was prepared to take over all facets of the business. That makes her very valuable."

Another puzzle piece to add to the collection – but it, too, didn't quite fit properly. If Akatsuki did take Hinata, then what part did the Chinese woman play? Haruno and Yamanaka wouldn't have protected her if she had a black trench in her closet. Was she a spy from Akatsuki, and no one else knew? What was her relationship with Tsunade?

Neji paid for both their coffees and left the dive with his hands in his pockets. Turning the key in the door of his car, he stopped. Once again, it all cycled back to the woman in red and Tsunade the arms dealer. While he didn't know how to find the first, he had connections to get to the latter.

Sliding into the car, Neji started the engine and turned towards Lee's apartment.

* * *

_DUM DUM DUUUUMM . . . the plot thickens . . .  
_

_As per usual - thoughts? Concerns? Suggestions? Rabid hatred (er - no, not really)?_


	4. In which Neji and 'Rui Xi' have a talk

**Notes:** And lo! So returns Tenten!

* * *

CHAPTER FOUR - _In which Neji and 'Rui Xi' have a talk_

The door was open when Neji climbed the last flight of stairs and turned the corner. He pulled his pistol from the holster, released the safety, and thumbed the trigger as he crossed to the doorway of apartment 6E. From inside came the sound of rustling and vicious swearing.

He turned into the entrance quickly and swept the room, then lowered his gun with a sigh. Lee, hair mussed and tie askew, was rushing around his apartment, muttering as he shoved random things – a left shoe, two formal jackets, and something that looked like a bottle opener – into an open suitcase on the sofa.

"Lee."

His partner started and looked up. "Neji," he said, relief in his voice. "How did you get in?

"The door was open."

"Really?" Lee ran a trembling hand through his hair, rendering it even messier. "I must've forgotten to close it when I got back."

He'd haphazardly cleaned most of the blood off his face, but there was still a mound of broken skin and cobweb-like bruising on his temple. "What happened?" asked Neji.

"My father," said Lee, slamming the top of the suitcase shut and struggling to close it. "I'm sorry to have to leave but he's been in an accident and he's in a hospital back home. I've got a train ticket for the express that leaves in twenty."

"Coincidence," said Neji, pressing against the doorframe as Lee left, "that you're needed at home the day we start asking about Hinata Hyuuga's disappearance." Neji closed and locked the door as Lee threw himself down the stairs.

"Real coincidental," agreed Lee. "Either way, he's been knocked out in a bad way, Neji, and I need to—" Winded from jumping landing to landing, Lee's breathless voice was cut off.

"Go," said Neji.

"Thanks," wheezed Lee at the bottom of the stairs, and caught the keys Neji threw at the back of his head. "I'll leave the keys in the glove compartment. Send Uchiha or someone to pick it up."

Neji nodded. In a whirl of green, Lee loaded the suitcase into the car and threw himself in after it. There was a splutter as the engine turned over twice, and then started. "I'll call," Lee yelled out of the open window. "Tell you how he's doing and when I can come back!" At Neji's nod, he pulled away from the sidewalk and set off at an illegal speed down the middle of the street. The company car turned the corner and was gone.

Sighing inaudibly, Neji thrust his hands into his pockets and set off for the office. It was rather too convenient that Maito, Lee's father, had suffered from an accident within hours of his son starting to ask questions about the missing heiress. Convenient too that it was Lee's _father_, who lived far enough away that Lee would need to leave indefinitely to take care of him. Rather than, say, his mother, who was three blocks away, and more sickly.

A threat _and_ an excuse to get him out of the city, then.

The only question was whether it was Akatsuki or the Hyuugas that were concerned enough to slam Maito Gai, who could probably take Neji himself in a fair fight. He wondered for a second how many men the 'Green Beast' – or so he'd been called back in the war – had taken down with him.

He was two blocks from the office when he saw the flash of red out of the corner of his eye. Slowing, he turned a little and watched as the purported Rui Xi exited his office building. She was almost dazzling in a crimson suit whose trim was just a line of black at this distance. Under the broad rim of a black hat accented by silk roses, she glanced along both sides of the street and set off in his direction.

Half-hidden under the awning of the barber's shop that Lee frequented, he waited until she had passed him before slipping to her side.

"Excuse me," she began irritably, and then tilted her hat out of the way to see his face. The annoyed expression broke to reveal a bright smile. "Oh, hello, Mr. Hyuuga."

"Hello," he replied. "You still haven't told me your name."

"That's not important," she said dismissively. "Care to join me for a walk?"

"Why were you in my office?" he asked. She smiled wider, and one of her small hands wormed its way into the curve of his elbow. They walked arm-and-arm down the street, headed towards a destination that Neji didn't know.

"Sakura left her hat," she replied. "And I had to check your credentials, didn't I? I'm very impressed, Mr. Hyuuga. Sakura hired the best, as promised." He looked down to see if her expression betrayed a disdain that her tone did not, but she was small enough pressed to his side that all he saw was the top of her hat.

"Hn," he said.

He waited for the silence to get to her, for her to reveal something, but she seemed content to wait. They crossed Sixteenth, then Fifteenth, and it was midway down the next block that he realized his usual silence tactic had failed. She was humming under her breath, something pretty and light.

"Where are we going?" he asked quietly.

"Nowhere," she replied. She looked up into his eyes, and the corner of her own crinkled as she smiled. "Curious, Mr. Hyuuga?"

"Will you tell me now what you know about Hinata Hyuuga's disappearance, Rui Xi?" Her hat went back down over her face, and now all he could make out was her chin, jutting from underneath the black and red brim.

"That's the wrong question," she said.

"How about the truce meeting between the Hyuugas and Akatsuki at Ayame's three nights ago?"

When she looked at him, she was positively beaming. "That's the correct question, Mr. Hyuuga. Why would the Hyuugas initiate a truce meeting with the rebellious squabble they don't like? And why at Ayame's?" She seemed to be waiting for him to answer.

"Because Hiashi likes to know his enemies," he said.

"I assume you've at least heard of what Hiashi does to people he doesn't like," she said, her fingers loose on his arm. "Try again." Neji had more than heard of what Hiashi, the supposed gentleman, had done to his enemies. He didn't like trying to get into his uncle's head.

"To outline the rules of the game," he suggested, echoing Hanabi's thesis.

"Close," she said mildly.

Trying not to be annoyed at the guessing game, he ran through the conversation with his younger cousin again. A truce at Ayame's, the most neutral spot in town – except that Ayame's _wasn't_ the most neutral spot. That was a title reserved for Tsunade's place, wherever she was hiding. Which meant that Hanabi was purposely implying something about the club itself . . .

"Ayame," he said suddenly, realizing. "Hiashi wasn't calling the truce to outline the rules of the game, he was calling it to _ignore_ the rules. He was going to ambush Akatsuki, and he knew that Ayame wouldn't protest, because Ayame is in someone's pocket. Not Hiashi's – Tsunade's?"

She patted the top of his arm lightly. "Bravo, Mr. Hyuuga."

He let it sit in his mind for a while. The odd phone call Ayame had been finishing before he and Lee arrived, how she knew the contacts to get to Tsunade; Hanabi's insistence that Ayame didn't know anything, that she was neutral when she really wasn't; and this mysterious Rui Xi, who seemed to know exactly what was going on.

"How do you know all of this – _Rui Xi_?" he asked after a while.

"Oh, I've got very sensitive ears," she said.

"Why are you helping me?"

He couldn't see her face, but he heard amusement in her voice. "I like you. And maybe I'm a damsel in distress."

Her purse, its delicate chain hooked over her elbow, was just the right length for a throwing knife – she wasn't the damsel in distress type, Neji was certain. "Do I owe you a favor?" he asked.

"Consider the information a loan," she replied, and slid her hand from his arm. "You can pay it back later – with interest."

They were at the large intersection of Fifth and Boulevard. Without a farewell, she turned to the left, in the direction that he knew the Yamanaka flower shop was. Her hair was in two buns again, this time both low and towards the back, nestled under her hat.

She disappeared into the crowd of rich women out to shop, and Neji considered what to do next. Rather than return to his office, he too turned to the left and crossed the street. Two blocks away was the _Chronicle_'s building, and it was long past time that he found Tsunade.

* * *

Kakashi Hatake was reading a graphic novel in his office when Neji finally found him. The _Chronicle_'s Editor-in-Chief, largely considered to be most influential man in the city's complex journalism network, was hiding his lower face behind his usual high collar, and he looked resigned when Neji appeared in his doorway.

"Oh," said Kakashi. "What can I do for you, Hyuuga?"

"Genma," said Neji.

Kakashi gave a long-suffering sigh and closed his dime novel. "Come in," he muttered, and once Neji had closed the door and sat in front of his desk, he propped his elbows on the desk and steepled his fingers. "Why Genma?"

"I need to talk to Tsunade."

"Of course," muttered Kakashi. "Always Tsunade." Between the shock of white hair falling across his face and the collar up covering his chin, all Neji could see were his dark eyes. They blinked slowly.

"Well?" said Neji.

"Genma is unpredictable," said Kakashi. "Are you sure you want to do this? Messing with Tsunade doesn't keep you alive for very long."

"I just need to ask her some questions."

"The Hyuuga case?" asked Kakashi. "It's all over the place, even if no one's talking about it. I'd keep your eyes open and an extra pair on the back of your head, if I were you. Word on the street is Akatsuki went to welcome you personally."

"They did," said Neji.

"Get someone to look at you before you track down Genma," advised Kakashi. "Tsunade won't hesitate to kick you in the ribs if she doesn't like you."

"I'm fine," said Neji.

"It's your funeral march." Kakashi unfolded his hands and leaned back in his chair. "I'll get shit for this, but Genma's downstairs in the printing office. Tell him that you need to talk to Tsunade about the truce, and I sent you. He'll get you there, one way or another."

"Thank you."Neji stood but hovered next to Kakashi's desk. "What do you know about a Chinese girl, always in red? She might go by the name 'Rui Xi.'"

"Well," hedged Kakashi. "Nothing, why?"

_Liar_, thought Neji.

"No reason," he said.

* * *

Buried in the somewhat bow-legged depths of the _Chronicle_ building, the printing office suffered from most of the more common architectural defaults of a century old building. The ceiling sagged down in the center of the room, and splotchy ink stains were scattered across the walls and floor. The oldest of the printing presses stood like empty giants in the darkness. Genma and his fellow employee, a stunner of a woman who was built like an Amazon and dressed to kill in the best way possible, were flicking coins into an empty jar.

"Hn," observed Neji.

"Fuck," groaned Genma, startled out of his chair and onto the floor.

"Very well done," snickered the Amazon.

"I'm here about Tsunade," said Neji with no preamble, and the woman stopped snickering. Genma, moaning with apparent pain as he pulled himself off the floor, stopped in the act. His hand was casually moving towards the inside pocket of his jacket when Neji continued. "I need to talk to her about the truce."

"Ah." Genma's hand stopped moving. "And who told you that Tsunade knows about the truce?"

"Kakashi."

"He's annoying. Remind me why we haven't killed him yet?" asked the Amazon.

"Because he's useful, Anko," chided Genma.

"Oh," she said petulantly.

"All right," said Genma, back on his feet abruptly. "You want to find Tsunade? We'll find Tsunade." He adjusted his hat on his head, and smirked at Neji. "You sure you want to do this, kid?"

"Yes."

Leaving Anko behind, he and Neji departed the _Chronicle_ building in silence. Not interested in participating in Genma's infamous small talk, Neji made sure to broadcast a surly silence. He knew that no information of any importance would be coming from the man at his side. He'd been working for Tsunade for too long.

They continued down Fifth and turned at Greene Avenue. Zigzagging across numbers and avenues, they finally spilled onto the familiar Hokage Avenue when the daylight had finally spluttered and died. Genma led him past the glowing lights of Ayame's and turned into the alley where Neji and Rui Xi had first talked.

Walking further into the shadows, Genma turned and descended a set of steps hiding behind a trio of trashcans. The mystery of how Rui Xi had so quickly disappeared was solved now, but it left behind more questions: a deeper connection between the Chinese woman and Tsunade? From how she'd framed her accusation when she thought Neji had been sent by Tsunade, he had thought that they weren't on speaking terms.

Filing away the question to sit with the rest involving Rui Xi, Nej followed Genma down the steps. There was an alcove before a doorway, and then a huge wooden door. The lock was impressive, not to mention enormous, and was no doubt meant to intimidate as well as guard whatever was inside. Genma was tapping something out against the door, a stanza or two of a slight melody that sounded familiar.

"Come in, come in." The door opened, the words whispered, and Neji and Genma were herded into a dark room. The blackness was absolute, and Neji's eyeballs felt like they'd been papered with felt. He heard scratching and a few muffled clanks, but still no directions.

After an eternity, there was a hand on his elbow.

"Mr. Hyuuga? Tsunade will see you now."

* * *

_So finally we get to meet Tsunade! _

_Thoughts on the chapter?_


	5. In which Neji meets the woman behind it

**Notes**: Words cannot express how sorry I am for how long this took. Please forgive me?

(OHMYGOD I am such an idiot. Thanks to all of you who pointed out the mistake. Double forgive?)

* * *

CHAPTER FIVE -_ In which Neji meets the woman behind the desk_

"Neji Hyuuga."

Tsunade wasn't quite what he expected. She was young-looking, even though she'd been reigning over the city's weapons dealing since before Hiashi Hyuuga took over the family, with blonde hair and a bust line that could've knocked the Seventh Calvary off its feet.

The room was well-lit, and decorated like a library. To Neji's right and left stretched rows of bookshelves, perpendicular to the walls. Neji had heard about Tsunade's obsession with reading, but he hadn't put much stock in the rumors. Along the center row, between bookshelves, stood Tsunade. Like Rui Xi she wore red, but it didn't suit her coloring as well. There was a brunette to her right and Ayame to her left. Neji was careful not to look directly at either of them.

"Tsunade."

"What do you want?" she asked, her expression irritated. On the desk behind her sat rows of ledgers and loose paperwork.

"Why you wouldn't keep Hiashi Hyuuga from ambushing Akatsuki at Ayame's, for starters."

Tsunade scowled, and put the papers in her hand back onto the desk. "What are you accusing me of, boy?"

"Just wondering," he said mildly.

"Wondering?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I doubt it. And what will you give _me_ in exchange for this information that you so cavalierly ask for?"

"What do you want?" he asked, and a second later regretted it.

"Who hired you to look for Hinata Hyuuga?" she replied.

"You first."

"All right. I agreed to let Hiashi Hyuuga ambush Akatsuki because Sasuke Uchiha asked for my help in killing his brother. It seemed the easiest way to do it. The Uchiha boy is still infuriated with his brother for murdering their family." Neji didn't know what his colleague had against Tsunade, but if it was enough to make her willing to kill his brother, it must have been a hell of a lot of leverage.

"Now you," she continued.

"Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka," he replied. He hoped to God that what he'd done wasn't fatal – after all, Uchiha and Uzumaki should have been spending the whole day with them. With loose fuses like the Uchiha-Uzumaki pair, the women would be safe from everything sent at them, excluding an air raid or nuclear strike. This was all, of course, assuming Tsunade even wanted violence.

"Haruno? Really?" Tsunade frowned, then snapped her fingers and shooed the brunette at her right into the bookshelves on that side. She scurried away, a door clicked, and then it was Neji, Ayame, and Tsunade alone in the room.

"Thank you for being so helpful," she said. "You gave me two names, so you get one more question."

The obvious one – what does Sasuke Uchiha have over you – wouldn't get a straight or truthful answer, Neji knew that. So he decided to hedge.

"I met a girl," he said. "Chinese. Likes the color red."

"You saw Tenten?" demanded Tsunade, slamming her fist onto the desk. "Where?" To her left, Ayame grimaced and then blanched. She shook her head at Neji rapidly, and he knew that he owed her for all the times her information had broken a case.

"She came to my office," he said.

"What did she _say_?"

"She told me about the tea party you and Hiashi were arranging at Ayame's." Which, technically, was neither truth nor lie. Neji didn't mind fudging on the details here.

Tsunade straightened, hands on her hips. "Did she, now?"

"Who is she?" asked Neji.

"An old friend," said Tsunade. "I wasn't aware she was in town. Thank you for telling me. I owe you a favor now, Neji Hyuuga. Be careful about when you use it."

Their interview was apparently over. She called out to Genma, who appeared with a pair of guards. Each grabbed him under the elbow and forcibly escorted him to the exit. They passed through the dark hallway, and then he was outside in the alley and the door was being slammed in his face. He heard the tinkle of female laughter and the low voices of the men at the double doors of Ayame's around the corner. Tsunade was apparently camping out in Ayame's basement – which suddenly explained Cecily the cigarette girl being so concerned with that staircase.

His head felt like it was swelled to half-again its normal size and the guards' rough handling had left him tasting the copper tinge of blood on the back of his tongue. Eventually his tired brain called attention to the fact that Sakura Haruno was a trained nurse, and he forced himself to leave the alley and begin the trek towards the brownstone she shared with her friends.

_Uchiha_, murmured his brain. _Tsunade. Tenten. What do they have in common? Why would Tsunade do a 'favor' for Sasuke Uchiha? How is it that every second I spend on this case, the focus careens from Hinata Hyuuga to a bigger, nastier picture? Did Akatsuki know about the ambush, and take Hinata as insurance against it happening?_

He felt half-dead when the familiar steps of Sakura's brownstone appeared to his left. He took the steps slowly and collapsed against the door. It opened to reveal a semi-hysterical Sakura Haruno, who took one look at him and called for help.

Naruto and Sasuke, looking harried and mussed, appeared at her shoulder. Seeing Neji, they quickly reached around and hauled him inside. Under Sakura's direction, they dragged him to the kitchen and dumped his battered corpse onto the table.

"What happened?" demanded Sakura, pulling a kitchen apron over her dressing gown. Neji vaguely remembered that it was in the middle of the night.

"Hurt ribs," he wheezed. "Fight earlier today . . ."

"Why didn't you go to the hospital?" snapped Sakura. "The _idiocy_ of _men_. . ." She pointed at Uzumaki and Uchiha. "Naruto. Sasuke. Make him lay flat on the table, then go get me some gauze from the cabinet in the water closet." She turned her accusing finger on an almost unconscious Neji. "You! Shut up and lay down."

He did so, and then blacked out.

* * *

When he woke, it was to a stiffness in his chest and a thick wad of gauze wrapped around his torso. Sakura Haruno was washing her hands in the kitchen sink and muttering to herself.

"What happened?" he asked groggily.

"Sprained some ribs," she replied. "And you've got a nasty lump on the back of your head. You probably had a concussion and didn't even realize it afterwards. How did you manage to get through most of today functioning? Sheer force of will?"

Neji was used to pain. He grunted and pulled himself into a sitting position, once again shoving the spasm of protesting muscles into the back of his mind.

"Be careful," she warned. "It would be very easy for some of those ribs to break, and then you really _will _be in trouble."

"Hn," said Neji, not really listening. There was the noise of a commotion coming from outside the room, the hoarse yells of a man and the calm, deep voice that he instantly recognized as that belonging to Rui Xi – no, he corrected himself, Tenten. He couldn't make out what they were saying, and then they spilled into the room.

First in was Shikamaru Nara. "She's gone, we have to do _something_."

He was followed by Tenten. "Of course we'll do something. But we have to plan, Shikamaru, you know that. You're the damn tactical specialist."

Next were Naruto and Sasuke, looking surly and annoyed as Shikamaru continued over Tenten's quiet voice, "If those two idiots hadn't let Shizune _in_, we wouldn't have to worry about any of this."

"She was alone, what damage was she going to do?" said Naruto petulantly.

"Apparently a lot," pointed out Sakura from the sink. "Since she beat you and Sasuke something nasty."

"She hit me over the head with a vase," groused Sasuke. "That doesn't count."

"Either way, Ino is gone and we need to do something," finished Shikamaru, for once in his life looking alert and scatterbrained. His natural laziness had been chased away by the blonde's absence.

"Yamanaka's gone?" asked Neji in a scratchy voice. The others stopped talking and turned as one to look at him; surprised, no doubt, to find him conscious.

"Shizune, Tsunade's main girl, came by and knocked Sasuke and I out. She grabbed Ino," explained Naruto.

"Oh," said Neji, guilt washing over him. Two seconds later, Shikamaru was grabbing him by the neck and hefting him off the table.

"_What did you do_?" hissed the police detective.

"I went to see Tsunade," said Neji, calculating from which angle he would need to hit Shikamaru's elbow to make him release his grip but not shatter the joint. He was making a fist when Sakura appeared at Shikamaru's side, looking up at him with her huge eyes.

"Shika," she said, "put Neji down and let him talk."

"Tch," he grunted, and did as she said.

"I went to see Tsunade," repeated Neji, not allowing himself to rub his neck, "and she gave me information about Hinata's case in exchange for the names of who hired me." He shrugged and immediately regretted it as something in his chest tightened like hot iron. "I knew Uzumaki and Uchiha were here, and figured they could hold out if someone came knocking." He glowered at them. "I didn't expect that a single woman would get the upper hand on two armed and trained PIs."

"About Hinata?" said Shikamaru. "Why the hell would you go asking Tsunade about _Hinata_? This never was _about_ Hinata in the first place!"

"The truth," muttered Neji, confused and tired, "would be nice to know."

"The truth? You want the truth?" snapped Shikamaru. "The truth is that Tsunade isn't half as sincere as you thought she was when you handed over Sakura and Ino. She's fueling both sides on this turf war, and she wants Tenten because Tenten knows the score." He gestured vaguely behind him. "She's got all the details in her brain from when she was Tsunade's apprentice. If either side gets her, they will know exactly what Tsunade's been dealing the opposite. The Hyuugas and Akatsuki tolerate the double-dealing because she's the only reliable person in this damn city when it comes to weapons, but they will not hesitate to torture Tenten to find out what's what."

"Hinata," reminded Neji.

"And Hinata? God, you idiot. This was never about Hinata. This was always about Tenten. Hinata was just a method of getting to Tenten, and it served the Hyuuga family's purpose for her to disappear, so they've snuffed the investigations."

"Is that how you bribed Tsunade into letting the Hyuugas ambush Akatsuki?" Neji asked Uchiha, who was standing, surly-looking, in the background.

"Mostly," said Uchiha. "The Hyuugas don't know that Hinata is dead. It was an accident, apparently, but either way the Hyuugas are going to hit the ceiling when they find out their precious heir – who turned out to be pretty competent at a job no one thought she could do – is in a body bag somewhere. It served both our purposes to kill Itachi Uchiha; revenge and an easy scapegoat for Hinata Hyuuga's murder. We just called it blackmail to make it seem prettier."

Neji tried not to think about his quiet cousin's body hiding behind one of the bookshelves in Ayame's basement. Her death made this big mess a little prettier, which screwed his head royally. "Why hire me?" he asked. "You know what's what. Hinata's dead, Akatsuki's going to go down eventually, and the Hyuugas will stay on top."

"We need to know where they put Hinata's body," said Sakura, her eyes shiny with a film of water. "The best way to do it seemed to be hiring the best private investigator to look into her disappearance."

"We were going to give the body to the Hyuugas and point them at Tsunade with both hands," added Tenten in a quiet voice. "If Hiashi was angry enough, he would kill Tsunade first and ask questions later. Without a neutral weapons dealer, the turf war would turn economic instead of violent."

"We didn't mean for Akatsuki to get interested in you and start asking questions about what you were doing," said Naruto from where he leaned against the kitchen counter. "Turns out Itachi Uchiha knows more than he let on."

"Shika figures that someone must have seen you and Tenten talking outside of Ayame's last night," interrupted Sakura, "and told him about it. Seeing someone with trademark Hyuuga features chatting up Tsunade's supposed apprentice, he must've put two and two together and come up with sixteen."

"And then they took out Lee's father to get rid of my backup," murmured Neji.

The puzzle pieces, before scattered across his mind, were suddenly bizarrely fitting together. The entire case he'd been chasing after Hinata, and the connection that had been made by his contacts had always involved Tenten, the Chinese woman dressed in red. No Hinata.

"Why Hinata?" he asked.

"We went to school together," said Tenten. "One of my best friends. And Tsunade likes having people in her debt. She manipulated it enough to make it seem to the Hyuugas that she was doing them a favor by taking Hinata off their hands for a little while, and then she turned around and demanded that I come back and be her apprentice, or else she'd see Hinata's throat slit."

"But she did it anyway," said Neji, throat drying at thought of his little cousin, Hinata, who had spent most of her childhood following him around, asking stupid questions and blushing horrendously. He wondered abstractly how he would kill Tsunade, and then decided to muddle through concerns like that later.

"Yes," said Tenten hoarsely. "She killed her anyway."

* * *

They needed a plan to get Ino out of Tsunade's fatal clutches – all the while avoiding her cronies, Neji's Akatsuki stalkers and the people that the Hyuuga family had on pay roll; three categories which included almost everyone in the city – and Shikamaru was the only one who could make it.

He was lost, of course, worried about what Tsunade would do to Ino and whether she would end up like Hinata. He made complex plans and simple ones, his finger tracing the lines of the neat map of Tsunade's underground cavern that Tenten had drawn up on paper. He made contingency plans for the contingency plans of the contingency plans, all the while muttering statistics and pulling his fingers through his hair.

In the end, it didn't really matter, because almost nothing went to plan anyway.

* * *

_Thoughts? That is, if anyone is even reading this anymore, which I highly doubt . . ._


	6. In which Neji learns the truth

**Notes:** Er. Hi. Anyone remember this?

Yeah. No excuse, I know. Enjoy? It's the end?

* * *

CHAPTER SIX - _In which Neji discovers (most of) the truth_

"Hey there, Silver Eyes," she said, smiling. There was a very large knife in her hand.

"Hello," he said, watching his footwork as he stepped in a circle around her.

"You need to understand," she said. "This isn't personal."

"For you it isn't," he said, and she lunged.

* * *

Outside of Ayame's, Hokage Avenue was silent. Four in the morning was a lull time; Ayame's more rowdy visitors had just left, and the workaholic businessmen who went to trade and sign contracts in the brick buildings on Seventeenth were still snug in their beds. His revolver heavy in his holster, Neji wondered yet again why exactly he was stumbling behind a very graceful Tenten as she crept down the alley towards the alcove behind the trash cans.

Sakura Haruno had threatened to tie him to her kitchen table if he didn't stay, but Sasuke and Naruto had seen his side of things – not to mention that he'd had the support of Shikamaru Nara, who was probably hoping he would get shot – and coerced her into letting him come.

Sakura, despite throwing a fit of biblical proportions, was back at the office, under the somewhat dubious guard of their boss and landlord, Sarutobi.

Naruto and Sasuke were within Ayame's itself, subduing the guards and Ayame and staking out the staircase. They didn't anticipate having much trouble. From the sounds of the phone call that Lee and Neji had interrupted – it had been that morning, he realized suddenly, less than twenty-four hours ago, but it felt like ages – she wasn't exactly happy under Tsunade's heavy hand.

Tenten held up a hand to halt his movement, and she slithered her body, in a pair of wide-legged woolen slacks and a Chinese-style silk shirt that didn't hamper her movements, around the trashcans. From the alleyway, Neji heard her tap the melody she had been humming earlier against the wood.

"Neji," she hissed. "Get over here." He crossed the corner, and found Tenten holding her first above the open door with a curious look on her face. "It was unlocked," she whispered. "Stay close, this is odd."

Tenten shut the door behind him, and he anticipated the all-encompassing darkness of his previous visit. It was a little lighter this time, and he realized that there was the scattered outline of a door somewhere before them.

He felt Tenten's small hands on his arms, and they slid down quickly, finding the buckle on his belt. She hooked a finger through one of the belt loops of his pants and tugged, guiding him swiftly. He could only see her body when the dark block of its presence dampened the lighted outline of the door.

"Shh," whispered Tenten right against his ear, her lips brushing the hair behind it.

She was pulling him to the right of the glowing door, and let go of his belt loop to pull at some handle. The door opened, the rush of light blinding them for a second, revealing the room where Tsunade had been hours earlier. She was still there, alone, behind the desk. She was writing something, but stopped upon seeing them.

"Tenten," she said, smiling. "Come back, have you?"

The presence of her former employer wasn't expected, but Tenten appeared unperturbed as she stepped into the room. Neji followed behind her, not quite sure what to do. "No," replied Tenten a little cheerfully. "You took my friend, I believe."

"Ah," said Tsunade. "So you're still persisting in being high-minded, are you?"

"If you mean that I still think you're an immoral cow, then yes, I am still high-minded," said Tenten. "What you're doing is wrong."

"The Americans dropped an _atomic bomb_ on Hiroshima," hissed Tsunade. "You know that they destroyed my entire hometown. I doubt any of my family is _alive_ anymore, and you think that I am the immoral one?" Her hands twitched, tightening on her pen.

"Biological weapons are not moral," said Tenten firmly. "I deal in steel and iron, as should you. I won't sully my designs with toxins, no matter what you tell me to do."

"Too bad," replied Tsunade, mouth twisted. "I would have welcomed you back, you know."

"I doubt it," said Tenten, and she dropped out of the way a second before a gunshot barreled through where her head had been. She used her momentum to drop her behind a bookshelf to her right, and Neji followed her with a dive a half-second later.

"Predictable," muttered Tenten, and she slid one of her knives out of a holster under her shirt. "Neji, can you head on?"

He nodded, more because his ribs were throbbing than out of any monosyllabic tendencies. He was at the other end of the bookshelf, scouting around the corner when he heard her mutter, "Might as well," and her small hand was tugging on the back of his shirt. He turned and she pressed her body against his and kissed him quickly, her fingers tapping his chest and staying there instead of wandering.

Kissing her took most of his breath, and he had to take in an audible gasp of air when they finished. She smiled sleepily, her lips as red as her shirt, and scurried back to the other end of the bookshelf.

Reminding himself of his objective, Neji turned and peeked down the thin passage between the ends of the bookshelves and the wall itself. There was a break, about two feet down, where an archway was cut into the wall. He didn't take his eyes off of it, straining past the blood in his ears to hear the signal.

There was a thud and then a staccato of gunfire. Neji threw himself into the archway, making sure to skid on his knees and save his ribs most of the pain. The archway led, exactly as Tenten had said, into a small room where Ino Yamanaka sat, trussed up like a Christmas goose.

Crossing the small room in two strides, Neji sliced Ino's bonds and handed her the smaller of his two revolvers. As he recovered his breath, she expertly checked the rounds and practiced releasing the safety. "Shika taught me," she explained quietly.

"You won't need to use it," said Neji. "We don't want a gunfight, and Tsunade's people seem to be gone. When you get out of this room, turn to the left, stay low, and hurry until the end. There's a door there, and when Tsunade's distracted, leave. Sasuke and Naruto are upstairs in Ayame's, and Shikamaru is in the building next door with a rifle on the third landing. Wave your hand like this so he doesn't shoot" and he showed her "and then make for the corner entrance. Join him."

Ino nodded, face serious, and then half-grinned. "I think that's the most I've ever heard you say in one breath, Hyuuga," she said.

"Hn," replied Neji. At the archway, he pushed Ino to the left and stayed in the nearest row of bookshelves. Titles like _Biological Diseases and Their Origins_ sat next to _The JANE 1914-1934 List of Military Aircraft_. Despite his best attempts at cushioning, his ribs ached something fierce. He waited, counting slowly, the time that Shikamaru had estimated it would take her to reach the door. When there were no cries or gunshots after sixty seconds of strained counting, he knew that she had made it out.

There was no noise, in fact. No voices. No footsteps. Not even the whisper of Tenten's silk shirt. Utter silence.

His only excuse was that pain made him criminally stupid. He turned the corner and stepped into the central aisle. Tsunade's desk was empty, her papers mussed. There was no sign of either Tsunade or Tenten, except that most of Tenten's holster of knives appeared to be lying on the floor.

"Hey there, Silver Eyes," she said from behind him.

He turned, and Tsunade stood between him and the exit. He could see Ino's back as she scrambled through the door into the alley. "Hello," he said.

"You need to understand," she said almost apologetically, moving the knife from her left hand to her right. "This isn't personal."

Neji couldn't tell if the red dancing along the edge of her knife was blood or simply a reflection of her dress. "For you it isn't," he replied. She lunged.

As it was, fighting Tsunade with a half dozen sprained ribs and a minor concussion turned out not to be one of the greatest decisions Neji Hyuuga ever made. Dancing away from her knife, Neji twisted and dove for one of the bookshelves. He grabbed a handful of books and threw them at her, but she dodged easily.

"Where's Tenten?" he asked, wheezing.

"She's resting," replied Tsunade. "Why don't you join her?" Neji wasn't usually the type to hit a woman, but when she was aiming to take his head off he found that he could make an exception. The first hit glanced, and before he could collect enough equilibrium to hazard a second, Tsunade found an opening and thrust.

The slash opened the front of his shirt and sliced his tie in half. He stumbled backwards and the momentum pushed her in the opposite direction. Naruto, who had apparently finally decided to join the party downstairs, caught her mid-flail. "Hello, Tsunade," he said. "Are you the bitch who murdered my friend Hinata?"

"Don't kill her," said Neji, stumbling over the words. He was staring, a little uncomprehending, at the gash through the gauze that Sakura had used to bind his ribs. "Give her to the Hyuugas."

"Gladly," said Naruto, smiling unpleasantly.

The butt of a pistol to her temple knocked her unconscious. As they disarmed her and tied her with a bit of rope that was in her desk, Naruto explained that the club upstairs, too, was empty. More concerned with their personal safety than the mystery, Neji didn't ask questions. Shikamaru would have sent Ino to the Hyuuga compound by now, and they could expect a full infantry of Hyuuga goons within a few minutes. Not wanting to be there when it happened, Sasuke left a clearly printed note – written and signed by Neji, self-exiled former member of the Hyuuga family – pinned to the alley door.

Tenten, unharmed except for a few nasty scratches, was unconscious behind Tsunade's desk, slumped over the chair. They loaded her – breathing, but still knocked out – into the backseat of Ayame's car and left quickly. Sakura, found holed up with a tome in Neji's office, bit her lower lip and said that no trip to the hospital was necessary. Many of the scratches had already stopped bleeding, and Tsunade apparently kept her weapons clean enough that infection wasn't a concern.

He was half-asleep, slumped in a desk chair by the ratty couch in the lobby of the building, when Tenten awoke. "Hey, cowboy," she said in a raspy voice. "How'd we pull?"

"Fine," he said, straightening up and wincing at the tug in his ribs. "We left Tsunade with a note for the Hyuugas. Shikamaru made sure no one downtown asks any questions. Ino is fine."

"What about you?" she croaked.

"Uchiha and Uzumaki came at an opportune moment," he said, grimacing. She laughed, wincing a second later. Neji sympathized.

"How long have I been out?"

"Not long. A few hours."

"Is it bad?"

"You'll scar."

She snorted. "If that's the worst of it, I'll live."

Neji waited as she settled back into the couch. Unusually impatient, he decided to take their short conversation as invitation to ask the questions that were still left unanswered. "What did you do as Tsunade's apprentice?" he asked.

"Design, mostly," she said, shrugging minutely. Again she winced, breathing heavily. She waited a few minutes and then began again. "Shizune took care of the paperwork, but I helped Tsunade create the new goods, particular only to her specially-produced Orochimaru line. Knives, pistols, occasionally long-distance weapons. When she started talking about bringing biological weapons into production – and let me tell you, those things are a bitch to contain – I tried to talk her out of it. When that didn't work, I left. Mind you, I left with most of her production specs in my head, but that wasn't something I could leave behind." She had paused for frequent breaths, but was now finished.

"So, annoyed with your defection, she kidnapped Hinata and threatened to kill her unless you returned?"

"No," said Tenten. "Well, in a way. She said she would hand Hinata over to Akatsuki."

Neji paused in the act of stretching his muscles. "Does that sound like Tsunade to you?"

She looked at him curiously. "Well, no. It never did – not quite her style. She's more the type to keep Hinata around as long as she was useful. But the message came straight from Ayame, so I never questioned it."

"Curious, is it not?"

Tenten's eyes flew to a spot over Neji's shoulder. He twisted carefully, and there was a figure in a familiar black trench coat in the doorway. Neji wondered how he'd gotten past Sarutobi and Shikamaru in the first room. "Yes," said Tenten. "Why did Ayame give me that misleading message?"

The newcomer did not smile, but there was amusement in his black eyes. He was an almost twin physically to Sasuke, with the same eyes and hair. His was long, like Neji's, and held back in a neat tail. There were deep lines carved under his eyes – exhaustion, maybe, or stress from having murdered all but one of his family.

"Hmm," he said, standing almost unnaturally still. "I had more faith in the detecting skills of my foolish little brother." His gaze flickered from Tenten's body, battered on the couch, to Neji. "And yours, Hyuuga. After all, you grew up with Hiashi Hyuuga. Surely you are aware of what motivates him."

Tenten's look of irritable confusion faded quickly. "Grew up?" she asked, but Neji was already thinking. Neither emotions nor money nor care for his family motivated a man like Hiashi. Power, really, was what drove him, and in the Hyuuga family power was almost directly related to honor. It wouldn't have been honorable to ambush Akatsuki under the flag of truce – he would have lost standing with the other families outside of the city.

He didn't know why he hadn't noticed it before, except he'd been blinded by old hatred for his uncle and a mellowing knock on the head.

And if Hiashi didn't truly mean to ambush Akatsuki, why would he have agreed with Tsunade to do it . . . why would Ayame send the threat . . . unless . . .

"Allies."

Itachi Uchiha's lips twitched. It might have been the beginning of a smirk.

"You and Hiashi were allying against Tsunade, and Ayame was your inside." Tenten looked confused again.

"Nicely done," said Itachi.

"Why?" Neji asked. He wasn't sure if he was asking why they allied or why Itachi felt the need to taunt his brother and come and tell Neji and Tenten about it personally.

"Tsunade is going mad. Her family's death during Hiroshima was only the beginning. Her people left her. Her lieutenants fled – Ayame to Akatsuki, Shizune to the Hyuugas." His voice was inflectionless, the words flat. "I cannot upset Hyuuga rule with an insane weapons dealer."

Behind Itachi were two men, both extremely tall. The left was missing half the collar of his trench; the other had a familiar head of closely cut platinum blond hair. The blond raised his hand and gave a half-wave in Neji's direction. The other radiated surliness.

"Why are you here?" asked Tenten. Her voice petered off at the end of her sentence.

Itachi smiled, although it was more of a baring of teeth. "You were Tsunade's apprentice. Will you take the position?"

Tenten's eyes widened and then narrowed. "I'll want contracts, of course. Signed, by both Akatsuki and the Hyuuga family."

"Of course," said Itachi mildly. "I'll pass the news onto Hiashi. Get better, Tenten." He and his men left.

Neji looked at Tenten, who appeared to be a bit shocked. "You knew this would happen eventually," he said, his voice taking on the flat tone of Itachi Uchiha.

"Not since I left," she replied, looking at her feet.

"Will you take it?"

Her toes curled. "Yes."

"Hn," he said, and waited.

"Aren't you going to leave?" she finally asked. "I'm going to be a dangerous person to be around pretty soon, Mr. Hyuuga."

"I'll manage," he said. In the silence of the room, he could hear Sasuke and Naruto bicker in the next room over.

"Speaking of dangerous people," she continued, picking at the knit of the blanket draped over her. "You grew up with Hiashi Hyuuga? I thought you weren't related."

"We are no longer," Neji told her. "I was once his nephew. He killed my father five years ago, and I exiled myself from the family."

"So Hinata was your cousin?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry." She hesitated. "I guess Hinata mentioned you, sometimes. Her favorite cousin. She said – you used to protect her?"

"From her father, yes."

"Hmm. I guess both of us were liars, weren't we?" Tenten pulled her gaze from her blanket. "You know," she said, and her eyes crinkled in amusement, "I told you I was a damsel in distress. That, at least, was true."

He raised an eyebrow. "You weren't in distress."

"I was a little."

"Not quite."

Tenten laughed suddenly, hard enough that she had to clutch her chest and wheeze. "Oh, Mr. Hyuuga, I do hope that you continue to stay around. Itachi and Hiashi don't seem to have a very good sense of humor."

"Call me Neji," he said.

* * *

_. . . and thus it ends. Surprise? Horror? Stupefaction? Confusion? How about general thoughts?_


End file.
